Team Alaska earned three victories Tuesday at the U.S. Junior National cross-country ski championships in Fairbanks, where skiers ages 14-19 competed in a classic relay.
Fairbanks' Logan Hanneman and Hannah Boyer each anchored winning Alaska teams in the Older Juniors division for ages 18-19, and the Alaska boys added another victory in the Junior II (14-15) division at Birch Hill.
Hanneman, fresh off Monday's win in a 10-kilometer freestyle race, anchored the boys win in the Older Juniors division. Forrest Mahlen and Vanya Rybkin skied the first two legs of a 3x3.3-K relay. Team Alaska clocked 28 minutes, 0.6 seconds to beat second-place Midwest by nearly 13 seconds. Hanneman, who skis for UAF, was actually 18 seconds slower than Midwest anchor Ben Saxton, but the big lead built by Mahlen and Rybkin provided more than enough cushion.
Celia Haering and Anchorage's Stephanie Kirk skied the first two legs in front of Boyer to help deliver the girls Older Junior win, finishing in 34:51.8 to beat an Intermountain team by 1:16. Kirk and Boyer were both coming off impressive individual races Monday. Kirk won a 5-K freestyle race in which Boyer took third. Boyer, who skied in high school for West Valley High and now skies for Northern Michigan University, held a 37-second advantage when she started her anchor leg.
Jake Bassett led off the Junior II boys win, followed by Tristan Sayre and Max Donaldson, the Fairbanks skier who won a Monday 5-K freestyle. Tuesday's win came in 29:53.4, nearly 37 seconds ahead of an Intermountain team.
U.S. Junior Nationals
Birch Hill, Fairbanks
Tuesday's classic relay results
Top 10
Boys
Older Junior (ages 18-19) 3x3.3-K -- 1) Alaska, 28:00.6 (Forrest Mahlen, Vanya Rybkin, Logan Hanneman); 2) Midwest, 28:13.2 (Christopher Parr, Jan Ketterson; Benjamin Saxton); 3) Rocky Mountain, 28:40.7 (Tucker McCrerey, Charlie Von Thaden, Max Scrimgeour); 4) New England, 29:01.5; 5) Alaska, 29:09.4; 6) Alaska, 29:09.4; 7) Far West, 29:30.2; 8) IM, 29:34; 9) Midwest, 29:36; 10) New England, 29:37.1.
Junior I (ages 16-17) 3x3.3-K -- 1) Norway, 28:13.1 (Martin Thon, Sjur Slettom, Mattis Stenshagen); 2) Rocky Mountain, 28:41.6 (Keegan Swirbul, Evan Weinman, Cal Deline); 3) New England, 29:20.8 (Hamish McEwen, Ben Hegman, Jack Schrupp); 4) Alaska, 29:34.7; 5) Alaska, 29:42.5; 6) Midwest, 29:50. 7) Alaska, 29:51.2; 8) New England, 29:58.6; 9) Rocky Mountain, 30:01.2; 10) IM, 30:21.1.
Junior II (ages 14-15) 3x3.3-K -- 1) Alaska, 29:53.4 (Jake Bassett, Tristan Sayre, Max Donaldson); 2) IM, 30:30 (Logan Diekmann, Fischer Heimburger, Zach Williams); 3) New England, 30:40.7 (Henry Harmeyer, Bill Harmeyer, Koby Gordon); 4) Midwest, 30:54; 5) Far West, 31:08.9; 6) Midwest, 3133.3; 7) Alaska, 31:33.5; 8) Rocky Mountain, 31:36.1; 9) New England, 31:40.1; 10) IM, 31:42.1.
Girls
Older Junior (ages 18-19) 3x3.3-K -- 1) Alaska, 33:35.8 (Celia Haering, Stephanie Kirk; Hannah Boyer); 2) Intermountain, 34:51.8 (Jesse Knori, Maranda Stopol, Tristin Lowe); 3) Rocky Mountain, 35:14.3 (Lucy Newman, Rachel Hampton, Katie Scruggs); 4) Alaska, 35:17.8; 5) New England, 35:25; 6) Alaska, 35:30.7; 7) New England, 35:37.1; 8) Midwest, 36:17.8; 9) Great Lakes, 36:37.9; New England, 37:00.7.
Junior I (ages 16-17) 3x3.3-K -- 1) Norway, 33:07.8 (Lotta Weng, Tiril Weng, Lisa Kvamme); 2) IM, 34:11.5 (Laurel Fiddler, Maggie Williams, Annika Miller); 3) Midwest, 34:15.2 (Alayna Sonnesyn, Vivian Hett, Nicole Bathe); 4) Alaska, 34:15.5; 5) New England, 34:24.1; 6) Midwest, 34:40.1; 7) New England, 34:41.5; 8) IM, 34:49.8; 9) Rocky Mountain, 34:57; 10) Midwest, 35:08.4
Junior II (ages 14-15) 3x3.3-K -- 1) New England, 34:01 (Katharine Ogden, Leah Brams, Julia Kern); 2) Alaska, 34:45.8 (Ana Jager, Morgan Flynn, Lydia Blanchet); 3) Rocky Mountain, 35:10.9 (Hailey Swirbul, Jordan Floyd, Taeler McCrerey); 4) Midwest, 35:26.9; 5) IM, 35:33.3; 6) PN, 36:29.8; 7) Rocky Mountain, 36:48.1; 8) Alaska 36:53.6; 9) IM, 36:56.2; 10) Mid West, 37:01.7.
Anchorage Daily News